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Once Again, Bay Area Is A Bowl Winner

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 9, 2008

Most of us, especially hardcore fans, can probably agree on this: There are - at 32 - too many bowl games.

Annually, there are about a half-dozen teams that have to win their bowl game in order to avoid a losing season. A reward for not being that bad.

As we also know, bowl games are about something else. They are, at their core, chambers of commerce showpieces and come-hither visitor ads garbed in gridiron pageantry. They are positioned as catalysts for sponsors and charities. They engage a community. They're fun.

And they are economic boosters.

As opposed to some of the fuzzy math that typically surrounds sports events and economic impact, bowl games generally have a more credible case. Out-of-town college football fans - passionate, largely middle-age sorts who treat bowl games as loyalty rewards - are manna for the hospitality industry, especially during the holidays when business travel is nonexistent.

Although no one can quantify national network publicity for a venue, few would doubt there's value in a postcard backdrop to a nationally televised event.

Tampa's Outback Bowl is among the classier bowls, and this year's game fell shy of a sellout at 60,000 attendees. It showcases the Tampa Bay region on ESPN on New Year's Day to a national audience. It also generates out-of-town news stories in the week leading up to the game.

The invited teams - from the Big Ten and Southeastern conferences - invariably "travel well." Last week it was Wisconsin and Tennessee. The ratings are usually good, with economic impact easily into the eight figures.

And regardless of the participants and whatever the football subplots, Tampa Bay always wins.

(Bay) Walk The Walk

Ybor City, we understand.

Too much wet-zoning, too many teens, too many places that have too many good reasons to pat down for weapons. That's why there are curfews, code crackdowns and a uniformed police presence. It's what you do, and you don't let up - because Ybor's that important.

But if you don't go near certain establishments at certain wee hours, you're almost certain not to have a problem.

But downtown St. Petersburg? BayWalk? Christmas evening?

For the second time in less than three years, BayWalk, centerpiece for downtown St. Petersburg's well-documented renaissance, has been raked by out-of-control crowds. The latest incident included gunfire. Pepper at BayWalk is to be ground, not sprayed.

It's obvious what's at stake: downtown's revival.

Suggestion: Don't treat these disturbing incidents as if they are byproducts of "bored teenagers" and "troublemakers." This is no time for Crowd Control 101, "Best Practices" guidelines, criminal euphemisms or oxymoronic appeals to parental supervision. We're talking about serious curfews seriously enforced by highly visible, uniformed police officers. That's because we're also talking punks and thugs.

Florida's Cuban Politics

Word is that Democrats will seriously challenge U.S. Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart of South Florida in November.

That is significant because the congressionally entrenched, Cuban-American brothers are the consummate hard-liners when it comes to supporting the failed, counterproductive Cuban embargo.

The two Democrats are Raul Martinez, the former mayor of Hialeah, and Joe Garcia, the former executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation. Martinez would run against Lincoln Diaz-Balart in District 21, and Garcia against Mario Diaz-Balart in District 25.

It's worth keeping an eye on. Nothing major will change nationally until it happens in South Florida. Changing Cuban-policy attitudes have yet to be reflected at the ballot box.

Service Gapsters

It's said that if you're older than 50, you probably have experienced this: You're at a checkout counter waiting to pay and the 20-something clerk is seemingly oblivious to you while chatting on a cell phone. And seemingly annoyed that you are annoyed.

Well, they have a term for it: "service gap."

They also have a rationale for it: It's not that such employees are lazy or rude or nasty. It's just that the "millennial generation's" definition of customer service is different from that of baby boomers. And that's because their shopping experiences are much more impersonal, often done via the Internet or by phone.

Is that a crock, or what?

It may be called service gap, but it's also called not doing your job, something that any generation should be able to relate to.

Resolution

How's this for a New Year's resolution? No fireworks after, say, New Year's Eve. Especially the really, really loud stuff.

Of course, it's personal.

Joe O'Neill is a South Tampa writer and can be contacted at www.OpinionsToGoOnLine.com.

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